Biarritz and Stade Francais are out of the European Cup – both beaten by just one point.

The biggest upset was Northampton’s 7-6 win away from home at Biarritz. It was a win made possible by outstanding defence and an intercept try which Carlos Spencer converted. But at Welford Road, it was home side Leicester who stole the one point win, crushing Stade’s spirits with a 21-20 win.

Wasps qualified for the semi-finals earlier in the weekend when they demolished Leinster and Llanelli’s Scarlets on Friday dumped defending champions Munster with a 24-15 win.

It has been some time since a French and Irish team has failed to make the European Cup semi-finals and three English teams and a Welsh team may sound like an April Fool’s joke, but on this occasion it isn’t.